Wireless communications systems are used in a variety of telecommunications systems, television, radio and other media systems, data communication networks, and other systems to convey information between remote points using wireless transmitters and wireless receivers. A transmitter is an electronic device which, usually with the aid of an antenna, propagates an electromagnetic signal such as radio, television, or other telecommunications. Transmitters often include signal amplifiers which receive a radio-frequency or other signal, amplify the signal by a predetermined gain, and communicate the amplified signal. A receiver is an electronic device which receives and processes a wireless electromagnetic signal. A transmitter and receiver may be combined into a single device called a transceiver.
Transmitters, receivers, and transceivers often include components known as oscillators. An oscillator may serve many functions in a transmitter, receiver, and/or transceiver, including generating a local oscillator signal (e.g., a clock signal) (usually in a radio-frequency range) for upconverting baseband signals onto a radio-frequency (RF) carrier and performing modulation for transmission of signals, and/or for downconverting RF signals to baseband signals and performing demodulation of received signals.
Some wireless communication device manufacturers may choose to implement one of a plurality of configurations of oscillator circuits to generate an oscillating signal. For example, a manufacturer may choose to implement a simple resonator with a gain element specifically designed to generate a clock signal having a desired clock frequency of the particular communication device, while another wireless communication device manufacturer may choose to implement a voltage controlled oscillator module configured to generate the clock signal and where the frequency may be controlled by a control voltage.